Top 10: Games Turning 10 in 2018

I’m not a bad person. I’m not doing this to be mean or cruel, but to serve as a reminder that time stops for no one and that eventually, everything that is new and exciting will be old and nostalgic. So for this week’s Top 10, our first one of the new year, let’s take a look back, way back to 2008. A simpler time, where not every major console on the market was HD, where 4K was as futuristic an idea as hover-cars and VR was proven to be a dead-end thanks to the Virtual Boy years earlier. A time where motion controls were still fresh and exciting and we (all) thought that a video game could help us get in shape. Yep. it truly was a different time, and these are the 10 best games which will be celebrating their 10 year anniversaries in 2018.

10 – World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Kicking off this list is likely the only ‘game’ here that you might still be playing to this day. World of Warcraft‘s 2nd expansion, Wrath of the Lich King represents for many the peak era of Blizzard’s long running MMORPG. And its easy to see why, the expansion added so much new content to fill the all new continent of Northrend while cranking up the difficulty for those players who had reached max level. It’s also fun to think that WoW’s newest expansion, Battle of Azeroth is releasing close to the 10 year anniversary of Wrath of the Lich King.

9 – LittleBigPlanet

While things ended up working out ok for the PlayStation 3, its launch was a bit of a mess and for the first year and a bit of its life without a big game to get people excited for Sony’s third console. That is until LittleBigPlanet was released in 2008 and we all fell in love with a little burlap sack. Sony’s style of Play-Create-Share really resonated with gamers and finally helped give the PS3 an identity that was all its own.

8 – Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

You know a game is beloved when fans demand a remake nearly every time the game comes up in conversation. And in the case of the PSP classic and Final Fantasy VII spin-off we could not agree more. Great gameplay, engaging story and unique elements that have yet to make their way into any other games make this one a true classic and a great reason to keep those PSPs charged.

7 – Fable II

One of the most important games to have ever released on the Xbox 360 was also among its premiere titles. Fable II took everything that made the original game so unique and basically doubled it all in size, ambition and scope. When this game was released the console was already doing well but with Fable II people who had never considered owning Microsoft’s machine rushed out to pick one up. This was as close as we ever got to seeing Peter Molyneux’s grand promise come to life.

6 – Burnout Paradise

The arcade racing genre had been one of the most popular genres in the early 2000’s but needed a bit of a refresh when gaming went high-definition. And one of the most refreshing games that ever put us behind the wheel is Burnout Paradise. With high-octane thrills, crashes and gameplay that practically gave birth to a genre all its own, that of the action-racing game.

5 – Super Smash Bros. Brawl

I remember waking up early every single day before school and running to our family computer to check out what bit of news Nintendo had released about their upcoming mascot fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This ritual continued for months as tiny bits of news were released about the title was released in itty-bitty increments, and helped make Brawl one of the most hyped games I’ve ever been excited to play. And when it was finally released, I put hundreds of hours into the game beating up on my favorite characters, collecting trophies and stickers and of course wearing out the sticks on my GameCube controllers.

4 – Rock Band 2

The original Rock Band was great but Rock Band 2? Oh boy, what a legendary game. The amount of time I spent rocking out with friends in our own little makeshift rock group was insane and the main event of nearly all of our get-togethers. And EA and Harmonix made sure the good times kept coming with hundreds and hundreds of songs released which made the game a staple of parties everywhere for years to come.

3 – Fallout 3

It’s hard to believe that Fallout 3 really came out 10 years ago, mostly because the game still stands today as one of the greatest action-RPGs ever made. Taking the post-apocalyptic wasteland and making it a full explorable place in 3D was a coup de grace for a series that had, up till that point only dabbled in two dimensions. But it wasn’t just the new graphics that made Fallout 3 so special but its innovative gameplay that blurred the line between a shooter and an RPG thanks to its unique VATS system.

2 – Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Hideo Kojima knows how to tell a story. And as we all await his next title with Death Stranding, it’s a perfect time to remember the contributions to the industry that we owe Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. A landmark game when it comes storytelling, Guns of the Patriots was for many gamers the moment that video games were proven to be able to deliver a cinematic experience without compromising on their gameplay elements. This was also one of the first games to really push the PlayStation 3 to its limits in terms of visual processing and is still an incredible looking game today, a testament to the craftsmanship that went into making it.

1 – Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV was a massive hit when it released 10 years ago and its legacy and impact are still being felt today. Always a popular series in its own right, the GTA brand reached new heights by delivering a game that got us as close as was possible to the ‘do whatever you want’ philosophy that has always accompanied Rockstar’s open world crime sprees. The game remained near the top of the charts years after its release and was only dethroned when its sequel would be released years later. 10 years is a really long time, but thanks to games like GTA IV, it all flew right by.

What games make you feel old? We want to know so we can all be sad together, so let us know in the comment section below.

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A pretty cool guy (well at least I think so) with over 8 years experience in the video game industry as a writer, editor, site manager and put'er-together'er of words.
Email me at alex.stamour@link-cable.com